Our people. Who were they? Where did they come from? If we are
German, how come my mother does not make sauerbraten? If we are
Russian, why don’t we speak the language? I have a German
name, and my ancestors had farms in Russia. That must mean I am
a German Russian. But how did it all happen?

The history of our people is one of several migrations. The Meidinger
family originated in Switzerland and arrived in Germany to the village
of Neipperg, in the northern part of Wurttemburg Province, some
time after the Thirty Year’s War ended in 1648. They were
employed by the Duke of Neipperg to work in vineyards.

But by the mid-1700s Germany had become impoverished because of
recurrent wars. Wurttemburg especially was hard-pressed in carrying
more than its share in furnishing soldiers and horses as well as
financing the Napoleonic wars. Economic failure, crowded conditions,
and inadequate crops also created the need for “living space.”

It was during that century the Russian royal family took to the
task of “Europeanizing” Russia by intermarriage with
the princely houses of Germany. Thus, Catherine, a daughter of the
house of Anhalt-Zerbst, was called to Russia to marry Peter, the
heir to the throne. Peter became emperor in 1762, and soon alienated
the army, nobility, and the church. Within months, a palace revolution
unseated him, placing Catherine on the throne. Shortly afterwards,
he was murdered by her partisans.

Enter Scene One
Catherine the Great
It was Catherine who thought of settling German peasants on her
empty lands. She was aware of the political and economic problems
in her native Germany and she saw the situation as an opportunity
to bring industry and progress to Russia’s undeveloped frontier.

On July 22, 1763, Catherine, Empress of Russia, issued an invitation.
It made generous promises, such as:
-Free transportation
-Generous allotments of free land
-Interest-free loans for 10 years
-Freedom from taxes for five to 30 years
-Freedom of religion
-Freedom from military conscription
-And, most important, freedom to keep their language

What more could our weary peasant ancestors ask for? It was a free
trip to the Promised Land!

Exit Scene One
The first wave of immigrants were sent to settle along the Volga
River to the east. They became known as the “Volga Germans.”
In the south, in the Ukraine and along the Black Sea, came the next
wave of immigrants. They were called the “Black Sea Germans.”
They acted as a shield against Turkey. Settlement along the Black
Sea began about the year 1804 when Catherine’s grandson, Czar
Alexander I, aggressively pursued German immigrants to cultivate
the arable land. No doubt Johann Leonhardt Meidinger and his wife,
Barbara Muller, felt desperate in their decision to leave their
homeland.

The journey to Russia in those times was a test of strength and
faith. The route varied according to the province
of origin. It is believed our ancestors came down
the Danube River in crowded boats to Galati in Moldovia
and then across country to the Russian borer at Dubossary
or Ovidiopol on the Dneister River. The journey by
boat and wagon and often on foot took from two to
five months and often meant wintering on the way.

Exit Scene Two
When they arrived at the border, the immigrants had to face a quarantine
period and then live in primitive barracks for weeks or months before
the settlement site was ready. Hardships were often beyond endurance.
Many families were almost wiped out, and few reached the settlement
sites intact. In those early years, in “New Russia,”
the seaport of Odessa was little more than a fishing village. Moreover,
the open steppes of South Russia had never been cultivated.

In Kassel, where the Meidingers settled, the German colonists clung
to their language, religion, and culture. They were Evangelical
Lutherans, and spoke with a Schwabian German dialect. In the years
they lived in Russia, almost no one spoke Russian. Mothers sang
these lullabies to their children, who passed the songs on to later
generations:

Exit Scene Three
A report of life in Kassel dated April 1848 reports the types of
affliction the colonists endured. There were several years when
crops were devastated by locusts, serious livestock epidemics, and
outbreaks of smallpox and cholera. The same report, however, tells
that a “decent and practical large schoolhouse was built where
the children may become literate and receive the kind of religious
instruction that teaches them to be virtuous and patriotic citizens.”

The importance of religious training exists today among the German
Russians. Many in this audience remember walking in the church on
their confirmation day, singing this song:

Enter Scene Four
Song: So Nimm Den Meine Hände
(Take Thou My Hand, O Father)
Take Thou my hand, O Father
And lead Thou me,
Until my journey endeth,
Eternally.
Alone I will not wander
One single day;
Be Thou my true Companion
And with me stay.

Exit Scene Four
Hard work meant survival in Russia. There was much
to do and the old German saying, “Arbeit macht
das Leben suss,” held true there as well.

In the very early years, education took a back seat due to the
severe shortage of teachers. Some farmers could read and write,
and they shared what skill they had. The clergy supervised education
when possible, but their widespread parish duties kept them too
busy to have great impact. None the less, the academic and spiritual
education received by the first generation of German Russians offered
a bright spot in the educational gloom hanging over the rest of
Russia.

The German Russian people worked hard, prayed hard, and played
hard, too. There were annual festivals celebrating May Day, the
end of harvest, Christmas, New Year’s Day, and Easter.

But a favorite among all German Russians was the wedding celebration!
Weddings usually occurred during the late fall or winter so as not
to interfere with the harvest/planting cycle.

If a fellow was unable to find a suitable bride, he would hire
the services of a kuple (coopla) to do the job for him. The kuple
was a professional marriage arranger, usually male, with a reputation
for “finding a lid for every kettle.” The extent of
the bridal search could depend on the size of the groom’s
pocketbook. Of course, the match had to be sanctioned by the parents
of both bride and groom. Once the terms were agreed upon, the plans
were made.

Enter Scene Five
The bride and groom arrived at the church in a buggy hitched to
a matching pair of horses which were adorned with ribbons and flowers.
Before entering the church, and again upon leaving, a rifle shot
rang out, a tradition stemming from an old superstition believing
that the noise would distract any evil nearby.

The bride often wore dark blue or black, because it signified her
maturity, and because dark-color fabrics were imported—and
therefore an esteemed luxury. Around her waist, she wore a white
sash, and on her head, she wore a Braut Kranz, a bridal wreath made
out of wax candle beads or flowers.

The groom wore a black or blue suit adorned by a small bouquet
and two long ribbons flowing from his shoulder. The ribbons and
sash were a symbol of status because they were hard to come by.
However, in the oldest meaning, the sashes were meant to ward off
any bad omens.

This hymn was frequently sung by the congregation asking for guidance
for the newlywed couple:

Song: “Jesu Geh’voran”
(Jesus, Still Lead On)
Jesus, lead the way
Through our life’s long day
And with faithful footstep ready
We will follow, ever ready.
Guide us by Thy hand
To the Fatherland.

Following the service, the guests gathered for the Hochzeit, a
celebration at the home of the bride where everyone ate heartily,
toasted one another with schnapps, and sang folksongs and hymns.
A favorite was the old Lauterbach song:

Song: Z’Lauterbach
(In Lauterbach)
Lauterbach is where I lost my sock,
I won’t go home without it.
So I go back then to Lauterbach
Buy me another fit.

Lauterbach is where I lost my heart,
Living without, what a task!
Therefore, I must go to Lauterbach
My sweetheart for her’s I will ask.

Exit Scene Five
By the 1870s life in the German Russian colonies was good. They
were well-established and farms prospered. The children of the colonies
received a fine education, and, in some cases, sons of the villages
were even sent back to Germany for continued education.

The churches thrived, too. And in some of the larger villages,
hospitals and institutions were established.

But clouds of gloom hovered nearby as the German colonists began
their second century in Russia. During the reign of Alexander II,
the Russians came to regard the German colonists with envy and distrust.
The Russian upper class feared they were too influential. The Russian
peasants resented the prosperity and special privileges the Germans
enjoyed.

On June 4, 1871, Czar Alexander II revoked the rights and privileges
granted by Catherine and her grandson, Alexander I. It created a
shock wave of distrust and resentment throughout the German villages.
Besides having their sons subject to military service, the colonists
also faced the loss of traditional self-government and the unwanted
beginnings of Russification of their village schools.

For some time the colonists had heard of a new uncultivated empire
in a far off land called America. The “new land” had
become available as a result of the Homestead Act of 1862, signed
by President Abraham Lincoln. In 1874 Katharina Thurn Meidinger’s
sisters and families left for Dakota Territory. They settled near
Yankton in southeastern Dakota at a location known as Tripp. They
soon wrote glowing letters home, reporting that their new land was
comparable to that in Russia.

Following the harvest of 1884, Friedrich and Katharina, their young
son, Andreas, and many others from Kassel made plans to emigrate
to America. This song bade farewell to their families in Russia:

Enter Scene Six
Song: Jetzt Ist die Zeit und Stunde Da
(The Time and Hour is Now at Hand)
The time and hour is now at hand,
We’re moving to a foreign land.
Where souls by thousands prosper well,
Dauntless, with tears, we say farewell.

To our beloved ones and our kin,
We say farewell, and sigh within;
Weep not so hard that we must part,
It grieves our weary saddened heart.

Exit Scene Six
The immigrants were taken to Odessa where they boarded a train from
Bremen in Germany. Upon arrival, they were required to pass a health
exam before a ship ticket was issued to them. Following the exam,
they were separated, mothers with young children, fathers with sons,
and then everyone was given rooms, dormitory style, in a settlement
house. There they awaited departure.

Enter Scene Seven
While waiting, there was time to contemplate their decision. Think
of the apprehension and sadness, as well as excitement connected
with such a move. Listen now as this pioneer sings his farewell
in the form of this old German ballad:

Song: Die Lorelei
(The Lorelei)
I cannot discover the reason
I feel so sad today,
Some myth of the earliest ages,
I cannot drive it away.
The air is cool, it is evening,
The Rhine flows slowly by,
The peak of the mountain glitters
Against the evening sky.

Exit Scene Seven
German Russian immigrants purchased steerage tickets because they
were less expensive than first- or second-class tickets. This meant
they were on the lowest level of the ship with 1,000 other passengers,
slept in narrow beds, and felt every movement of the ship as it
crossed the ocean.

The families had prepared fresh sausage and zweiback to take along
on their journey. Nothing, however, could prepare them for the motion
sickness, poor ventilation, and stark fear they encountered on their
voyage. Certainly they were asking themselves whether life in the
new land was worth the misery they had to endure to get there. They
had abandoned the clean, predictable life in Kassel to ride a crowded,
filthy train to Bremen, live in a dormitory, and then spend many
days on the ocean coping with nausea, lice, poor drinking water,
and frightened children. It was a grateful group of travelers offering
prayers of thanksgiving when land was finally sighted.

The Meidinger family arrived at the port of New York aboard the
S.S. Werra on October 18, 1884.

Friedrich was 25. His young bride was 22.

Once in America, they realized they could not communicate properly
in English. They quickly learned a few essential words, such as
yes, no, ticket, and Dakota.

Their destination was not complete, however, until they boarded
yet another train to carry them to Chicago and on through to Yankton
in Dakota where they were met by their relatives from Tripp.

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to use any images from the GRHC website may be requested
by contacting Michael
M. Miller